Northridge, CA · September – December 2025 · LADWP / LADBS

A Fast Track job stops until the photographs are right.

Three kilowatts on red barrel tile with the hills behind. The interconnection was filed on a Friday and put on hold four days later, for photographs.

The utility's Fast Track route is quicker than a standard review, and the price of that is a set of required photographs filed with the request. Until they arrive, the job is on hold and there is no permission to install.

At a glance

System

3.04 kW AC-CEC

Roof

Red barrel tile

Route

Utility Fast Track / Type 1

Hold

Required photographs, four days after filing

Answered

Same day

Agreement to PTO

Ten weeks

Utility / AHJ

LADWP / LADBS

The story

Three kilowatts is a small system, and this is a page about paperwork rather than size. The roof is red barrel tile on a house near the top of the north Northridge hills, and the array sits on one clean plane facing open sky.

The tile work is the usual: tile lifted along the rail lines, attachments into the structure, each penetration flashed, tile set back. Barrel tile is more brittle than flat profile and more of it breaks, which is why the layout is planned before anything is lifted.

The agreement was signed on the twenty-third of September. The interconnection request went in at the start of October and the fees were paid the same week. Four days later the department wrote back with something blunter than a request for information: the required photographs for a Fast Track job had not been provided, the job was on hold, and there was no permission to install a system at the address until they arrived.

We sent them the same day. It is worth knowing exactly what is being asked for, because the department is specific about it — including that photographs of a working space with debris in front of the meter panel are not accepted. Clear the area, take the photograph, file it with the request.

With the photographs in, the request moved the same day: two progress notices and a completed site evaluation, all on the seventh of October. The installation was released at the end of the month and permission to operate came on the second of December — ten weeks from a signed agreement.

How it ran

The hold lasted one day because the answer went out the same day.

What we did

• Planned the rail layout on barrel tile before lifting any tile.
• Filed the interconnection request and paid the fees in the same week as the agreement.
• Answered the photograph hold the same day it was issued.
• Carried the request from hold to completed site evaluation inside twenty-four hours.
• Took the project to permission to operate at 3.04 kilowatts AC-CEC, ten weeks after signing.

System specifications

Is your project like this one?

• Your roof is barrel tile and you want to know what happens to the tile.
• Your interconnection is on hold and you have been told it is about photographs.
• You want to know what the Fast Track route asks for in exchange for being quick.
• You have a small roof and want to know whether three kilowatts is worth doing.
• You want to know why an interconnection request has stopped moving.

Cali Energy in Northridge

Frequently asked questions

What is a Fast Track interconnection?

A quicker utility route for qualifying jobs. The trade is that a specified set of photographs must be filed with the request; without them the job sits on hold and there is no permission to install.

What do the required photographs have to show?

The department sets out examples with the request. On this project the notice also stated that photographs of a working space with debris in front of the meter panel would not be accepted, so the area is cleared before the photograph is taken.

How long does a photo hold last?

As long as it takes to answer it. On this project the hold was issued and answered on the same day, and two progress notices and a completed site evaluation followed within hours.

Does barrel tile break during a solar installation?

Some does. Barrel profile is more brittle than flat tile, which is why the rail layout is planned before anything is lifted and replacement tile is on site.

Is three kilowatts worth installing?

It depends what the household uses and how much roof faces the right way. This house took one clean plane and 3.04 kilowatts AC-CEC, filed on the utility's quicker route.

Is a small array on barrel tile worth the tile work?

The attachment work is the same per rail whether the array is three kilowatts or thirteen, so it is a larger share of a small job. On this roof one clean plane facing open sky made it worth doing.

What this would look like on your roof

Related

• Thirty-four modules, tilted up, and one request for photographs Northridge, CA · 12.41 kW DC · tilt-up racking Solar
• Thirteen point eight kilowatts, and every module sits on lifted tile Northridge, CA · 13.83 kW AC-CEC · flat concrete tile Solar
• The three photographs LADWP needed before the meter Sherman Oaks, CA · 5.8 kW · new service Solar
• Six and a half kilowatts on concrete tile Winnetka, CA · 6.5 kW AC-CEC · Mission Solar Solar

This timeline reflects this property and this permitting path. Updated September 2026.